Railway system.



No. 768,920. PATENTED AUG. 30, 1904. G. B. VOYNOW & G. B. TAYLOR. RAILWAY SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 17. 1904.

N0 MODEL. 3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

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G. B. VOYNOW &'G. B. TAYLOR.

RAILWAY SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 17, 1904.

NO MODEL. 3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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No. 768,920. PATENTED AUG. 30, 1904. G. B. V OYNOW & G. B. TAYLOR.

RAILWAY SYSTEM.

APPLIGATION FILED FEB. 17. 1904.

NO MODEL. 3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

UNITE STATES Patented August 30, 1904.

PATENT OEETQE.

OONSTANTINE B. VOYNOWV GEORGE B. TAYLOR, OF PHILADELPHIA,

. PENNSYLVANIA.

RAILWAY SYSTEM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent NO. 768,920, dated. August 30, 1904.

Application filed Febr ary 17, 1904. Serial No. 194,035. (No model.) i

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, CoNs'rAN'rINE B.VOY- NOW and GEORGE B. TAYLOR, both of the city of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania,

have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway Systems, whereof the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

The primary object of our improvements is to permanently afford in a street-railway system the conditions which are economically and operatively most perfect in the several features of initial construction, actual operation, and repair or renewal.

It also comprises, however, as essentially interrelated with its main purpose certain factors which lend themselves advantageously to the transition from existing systems to the new one.

In order to explain the purpose and effect of our new system, it is proper to first briefly advert to certain characteristic features of the existing systems which it is intended to replace.

Under the best engineeringpractice in modern strectrailways the rails are of the girder type, of which the uppermost member is a car-tread arranged to engage with a car-wheel having a retaining-flange projecting below the level of said tread. The vertical web of the rail is located beneath the tread member, the cross-section, however, not being symmetrical, since a portion of the tread overhangs the web on one side. Below the level of the treadsurface and on the side of the web opposite to the overhang of the tread member is a horizontal flange, usually of such extent and configuration as to receive thewheels of ordinary vehicles, but wholly lateral to the vertical web of the girder. The said web is of considerable vertical height and is symmetrically disposed with relation to the base of the rail. In the track structure the upwardly-projecting cartreads are arranged outside of the depressed flanges, the paving being substantially flush with the surface of the flanges, so that the central section of the street(between the rails) is at a lower level than the portions immedimeans whereby during the period of transition from the existing to the improved system the car-wheels shall have the capacity.

to operatively engage with tracks of the old as well as of the new system.

To this end the new system comprises rails of the girder type having a relatively broad and deep tread symmetrically disposed with relation to the vertical plane of the web and to the cross-section of the base, said treads being provided with a lateral retaining-flange of suificient vertical projection above the treads to prevent displacement of a 'fiangeless wheel, but preferably of such width as 1 not to constitute a running-surface for ordinary vehicles. By disposing said rails with the retaining-flanges toward the inside of the track it will be observed that the street-section as a whole presents a reverse arrangement from that just described, or, in other words, the central section of the street between the tracks is the highest portion of the road-bed, since it has approximately the level of the top of the retaining-flange, while the highest part'of the roadway on each side of the track-section has substantially the level of the car-treads. For the other element cooperating with such a rail in our new system viz., the car-wheel-we contemplate an ultimate construction adapted to run wholly upon tracks of the new character, but with the provisional capacity of operatively engaging both tracks of the new and the old type.

Before describing in detail a physical embodiment of the system we will point out by reference to a concrete example some of the advantages which disclose the radical character of this departure in engineering. Being practically associated with the street-railway system of Philadelphia, we select that system as conveniently illustrating the points of comparison. In Philadelphia there are approximately five hundred miles of surface railways which intersect each other at intervals of about one-eighth of a mile or even less, so that apart from switches, connections, and other locations where special work is required there are, say, two thousand instances of such special work at the street-crossings. The existing system requires elaborate provision for track drainage because the central section of the road-bed is lower than the sides, and the water, therefore, will not naturally flow away from it. At each intersection and wherever special work is provided the cars are compelled to run upon the flanges of the wheels, and the consequent wear and tear both upon the tracks and upon the wheels is enormous. Furthermore, the bumping and grinding action which inevitably takes place is rapidly destructive of the motors and car structures, to say nothing of the annoyance to passengers and neighbors from the shock and noise. he breaking of the wheel-flanges is also a fruitful source of accident in the existing system, and while in one sense this might be classified as wear and tear it represents a wholly distinct factor of importance in the shape of special damage to property and persons. The necessarily frequent renewals of the special work of course involve renewals of the street-paving, the cost of which (independently of relaying the track itself) is a large item. If in rural extensions of a street-railway system special wheels having flanges of greater depth are employed, as is usual in such extensions where a higher speed is attained than in the main system, the cars thus equipped cannot run upon the ordinary tracks of the system, and transfer must therefore be made at the junction of the lines. The wheels of wagons and other ordinary vehicles run upon the depressed flange of the rail, which is wholly lateral with relation to the web. Hence the stress of this whole traflie is unequally supported, and the normal wear of running is upon a relatively shallow member and unduly destructive. Normal wear upon an ordinary ear-wheel provided with a retaining-flange increases the depth of that flange to such an extent that it becomes necessary to either discard the wheel or reduce the flange in order to permit proper engagement with the rails throughout the system.

Contrasting the advantages of the new system with the conditions essentially obtaining in the old, we would point to the following considerations. Thereis but one tread on the rails both for cars and ordinary vehicles, and it is disposed in such relatlon to the web that the load is uniformly and correctly transmitted to the web and base. The tread member may be relatively thick vertically, so as to insure long life. The distribution of the stress at the joint-plates is to the greatest advantage. The rail is susceptible of universal use whether for city or suburban purposes or in the case of special work at crossings, sidings, connections, &c. The car-wheel has no flanges to accidently break or requiring to be repaired by reduction in depth as the the tread wears away. It is most economical to manufacture both in regard to the casting and the finishing or grinding, and besides its freedom fromdestruetion through abnormal wear and tear it affords the best conditions for resisting the normal wear. The road-bed or street-section as a whole is correct in level and slope. No trackdrains are necessary, as the natural drainage is away from the track-section instead of being enchanneled between the tracks. The surface of steel exposed is greatly reduced. The paving has greater permanence by reason of the deep vertical surface against which it abuts on either side of the track, and the turning in and out of ordinary vehicles is greatly facilitated. At the intersections not only is noise avoided, but the destructive wear and tear upon wheels,motors,car-bodies, and track is minimized, and the annoyance to passengers and others through shock and noise is avoided.

e are of course aware of the enormous variety of rail-sections and car-wheel sections which have been suggested or attempted, and we recognize the apparently simple aspect of the contemplated change when viewed from what may be called a popular standpoint, as distinguished from that of the engineer trained in the art to which the invention directly relates. We have therefore presented at some length the considerations which we believe will be recognized by engineers skilled in the art as alfording evidence of a radical departure the apparent simplicity of which by no means represents the novelty of the conception or the practical consequences of its embodiment.

We believe ourselves to be the first to grasp the significance of the component features when organized in a complete system, and it is to this aspect that we direct attention in considering the scope of our invention and weighing its merits.

\Ve will now proceed to describe a typical embodiment of the invention in a system which is in process of transformation from the old construction to the new.

In the drawings, Figure I is a plan view showing at its upper portion a section of road bed of the ordinary type provided with rails for engagement with ordinary flanged wheels and showing at its lower portion a section of road-bed provided with rails of our new type in such relation with the old rails aforesaid that car-wheels may pass freely from one section to the other in successive operative engagement therewith. Fig. II is a transverse sectional view taken on the section-line II II in Fig. I, showing the new rail in full lines and the old rail in dotted lines. Fig. III is an inner face view of the adjoining ends of the old and new rails shown at the right-handside of Fig. I. Fig. IV is a transverse sectional view taken on the line IV IV in Fig. I, showing a' pair of our improved double-tread wheels in operative engagement with the old track-section. Fig.Vis a transverse sectional view taken on the line V V in Fig. I, showing a pair of our improved double-tread wheels in operative engagement with the new tracksection. Fig. VI is a plan view of special workembodying our improved rails of the cross-sectional configuration shown in full lines in Fig. II.

In said drawings, 1 is a section of road-bed of the ordinary type provided with rails 2, whose heads 3 comprise treads Lextending longitudinally at their outer edges. Said heads 3 are supported by vertical webs 6, provided with base-flanges 7, and the latter are secured by spikes 9 or other-suitable attaching means to the cross-ties 10 and 11, which latter, as shown in Figs. IV and V, are covered by paving, comprising blocks 12 and cement and sand filling 13.

The improved road-bed section 14 is provided with rails 15, whose heads 16 have wheel-treads 17, centrally disposed with respect to their vertical webs 18, which support said heads in connection with the baseflanges 19, which are centrally related to said webs 18. The wheel-retaining flanges 20 project above the level of said wheel-treads 17 along the inner longitudinal edges thereof. As shown in Fig. II, the outer longitudinal edge 21 of the rail-head 16 is beveled; but this is only desirable to insure that the pavingblocks 12, which are rammed to the lower level of said edge 21, shall not project above the tread 17.

Referring to Figs. IV and V, the car-wheels 25, which are coupled by the axles 26, comprise treads 28, which are adapted for operative engagement with the wheel-treads 4c of the old rails 2, as shown in Fig. IV, and treads 30, which are adapted for operative engagement with the wheel-treads 17 of the new rails 15, as shown in Fig. V. As indicated in Figs. IV and V, said wheel-treads 28 and 30 are conveniently formed of different diameters, and the wheels are so disposed upon the axles 26 that their larger diameter-treads 80 are adjacent to each other.

In Fig. VI, which shows special work arranged for the intersection of straight tracks and curved tracks, both pairs of tracks comprise our improved rails of the type shown in full lines in Fig. II, and the treads 17 thereof extend in one continuous common plane, so that the wheels may pass freely across said intersection in either direction and upon either pair of tracks without jolting.

Although the form of our improvedrails (shown in full lines in Fig. II) is adapted for special work, as indicated in Fig. V,'where such work comprises tracks which have sharp curves we prefer to increase the height of the wheel-retaining flanges 20, as indicated by the dotted line 22 in Fig. II, so as to withstand the extraordinary impact incident to the traverse of vehicle-wheels around such curves.

Referring to Fig. I, it may be noted that thetvheel-treads 1 of the old rails (shown at the top of the figure) and the wheel-treads 17 of the new rails (shown at the bottom of the figure) extend in different lines, and such arrangement is necessary for the employment of the double-tread wheels 25, as shown in Figs. IV and V. Moreover, referring to Figs.

II and III, it may be noted that the wheeltreads 4. of the old rails and the wheel-treads 17 of the new rails are at different levels, and we find it convenient to incline the end of the tread 17 downwardly toward its junction with the old rail, as indicated at 35 in Fig. III, to afford a smooth path to be traversed by the tires of ordinary vehicle-wheels.

In order to gradually replace both the wheels and the tracks of an established railway system of the ordinary type aforesaid with our improved construction without interfering with the traffic, we propose to select a division of the established railway and first equip that division with crossings comprising special work of the new construction, (shown in Fig. VI,) such newwork being installed during the night preceding the day when the final change is to be made, with'the newv rails in such relation to the old rails as is shown in Fig. I. An extra allotment of trucks or cars or the cars of the division should also be equipped with double-tread wheels, such as we have shown in Figs. IV and V, adapted to cooperate with both the old and new rails, as above described. Thereafter the ordinary rails throughout the system may be replaced by rails of our improved construction without in any way interfering with the regular operation of the system.

WVe do not desire to limit ourselves to the precise details of construction and arrangement herein set forth, as it is'obvious that various modifications may be made therein without departing from the essential features of our invention.

We claim 1. In a railway system, a section of a roadbed provided with rails having heads with wheel-treads along their outer longitudinal edges; a second section of road-bed provided with rails in alinement with'the first rails IIO aforesaid, having heads with wheel-treads intermediate of their width and wheel-retaining flanges projecting above said wheel-treads along the inner longitudinal edges thereof; a special work-section of road-bed provided with rails in alinemcnt with the second rails aforesaid, having heads with wheel-treads intermediate of their width and wheel-retaining flanges projecting above said treads along the respectively opposite longitudinal edges thereof; and, wheels having two treads, of different diameters, one tread fitted to roll on the rail-treads of the first section of road-bed and the other fitted to roll on the rail-treads of the second section of road-bed, so that said wheels pass freely from one section to the other in successive operative engagement therewith, substantially as set forth.

2. In a railway system, a section of roadbed provided with rails having heads with wheel-treads along their outer longitudinal edges; a second section of road-bed provided with rails, in alinemcnt with the first rails aforesaid, having heads with wheel-treads intermediate of their width and wheel-retaining flanges on said rails, adjoining and projecting above said treads; and, wheels having two treads of different diameters, one tread fitted to roll on the rail-treads of the first section of road-bed and the other fitted to roll on the rail-treads of the second section of road-bed, so that said wheels pass freely from one section to the other in successive operative engagement therewith, substantially as set forth.

3. In a railway system, a section of a roadbed provided with rails having heads with wheel-treads along their outer longitudinal edges; a second section of road-bed provided with rails, in alinemcnt with the first rails aforesaid, having heads with wheel-treads in termediate of their width and wheel-retaining flanges on said rails, adjoining and projecting above said treads; and, wheels having two treads, one tread fitted to roll on the rail treads of the first section of road-bed and the other fitted to roll on the rail-treads of the second section of roadbed, so that said wheels pass freely from one section to the other in successive operative engagement therewith, substantially as set forth.

I. In a railway system a section of road-bed provided with rails having heads with wheeltreads along their outer longitudinal edges; a second section of road-bed provided with rails, in alinemcnt with the first rails aforesaid, having heads with wheel-treads intermediate of their width and wheel-retaining flanges on said rails, adjoining and projecting above said treads; and, wheels having treads fitted to roll on the rail-treads of both of said sections, and to pass freely from one to the other in successive operative engagement therewith, substantially as set forth.

5. In a railway system, a section of a roadbed provided with opposite parallel rails of the girder type, each having a head and a vertical web centrally disposed with respect to said. head; a wheel-tread on said head concentric with said vertical web; and, a wheel-retaining flange on said. head, projecting above said tread along one longitudinal edge thereof, substantially as set forth.

6. In a railway system, a straight section. of a road-bed provided with opposite parallel rails of the girder type, each having a head and a vertical web centrally disposed with respect to said head; a. wheel-tread on said head concentric with said vertical web; and, a wheelretaining flange on said head, projecting above said tread along the inner longitudinal edge thereof, substantially as set forth.

7. In a railway system,the combination with a section of track comprising a rail having a wheel-tread, an upwardly-projecting flange adjoining said tread, and a web centrally located relatively to said tread; of another section of track comprising a rail constructed for the reception of flanged wheels; said rails at the point of junction of the respective sec tions, having their treads in difi'erent lines, substantially as set forth.

8. In a railway system,the combination with a section of track comprising a rail having a wheel-tread, an upwardly-projecting flange adjoining said tread, and a web centrally lo cated relatively to said tread; of another section of track comprising a rail constructed for the reception of flanged wheels; said rails at the point of junction of the respective sections having their treads at different levels, substantially as set forth.

9. In a railway system,the combination with a section of track comprising a rail having a wheel-tread, an upwardly-projecting flange adjoining said tread, a web centrally located relatively to said tread; of another section of track comprising rails constructed for the reception of flanged wheels; said rails at the point of junction of the respective sections having their treads in different lines and at different levels, substantially as set forth.

10. In a railway system, the combination with vehicles having double-tread wheels; of tracks having rails arranged to engage one of the treads of said wheels; and, other rails arranged to engage the other treads of said wheels, substantially as set forth.

11. In a railway system, the combination with vehicles having double-tread wheels; of tracks having rails arranged to engage one of the treads of said wheels; other rails arranged to engage the other treads of said wheels; and, special work, comprising rails arranged to be engaged by one of said wheel-treads, sulstantially as set forth.

12. In a railway system, the combination with vehicles having wheels provided with double treads; of adjoining track-sections respectively comprising rails arranged to be ranged to operate on either of said rails, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof We have hereunto signed our names, at Philadelphia, Pennsyl- 5 Vania, this 15th day of February, 1904.

CONSTANTINE B. VOYNOW. GEORGE B. TAYLOR.

Witnesses:

ARTHUR E. PAIGE, CLIFTON O.'HALLOWELL. 

